Copyright Summary
There are different types of intellectual property, such as Trademark, Patent, Trade secret and Copyright. This article is mostly about copyright and understanding how the law works. What is Copyright? The word Copyright comes from the words “Copy” and “Right”. To copy something means to duplicate or replicate something/a thing made to be similar or identical to another. The word right as in “having the right to do something” means someone is authorized to do something. So the word Copyright basically means a particular person, mostly an author of a work, has the right to make copies of a work. Copyright is the automatic exclusive right granted to an author of a creative work to distribute or display it, reproduce it, sell it, create derivative works off it or to permit other people to use their work, and to permit other people to permit other people (lmao) to use their work and so on. Copyright can protect certain types of works including, but not limited to: literary works, texts, musical works, song lyrics, melodies and rhythm, audio recordings, audiovisual works and films, artistic works and photographs, sculptures, dramatic works, choreographic works, computer software and graphic designs. A derivative work is a creative work that relies heavily on/includes major copyrightable materials from original work/a copyright owner’s intellectual property. Derivate works created by fans, like fan fiction, is likely to be legal under U.S. Fair Use. Copyright expires 50-100 years (maybe longer, depending on jurisdiction) after the death of the author, and in anonymous cases, 50-100 years from the date of publication. For corporations, copyright expires either 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter. Copyright Infringement Copyright infringement is when an unauthorized individual or corporation copies, distributes, uses (commercially or non-commercially), shares or creates derivative works upon a copyrighted work without the owner or rightsholders permission, and the infringing work violates applicable jurisdictions. There are different ways copyright can be infringed, such as Piracy of Plagiarism. Piracy is unauthorized use or reproduction of another’s work, it can also be illegally downloading commercial products, or reproducing them and selling them. Piracy is basically trying to make it easier for people to obtain commercial copyrighted works, or bypassing having to pay for a work. Plagiarism is taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own, without crediting the author. Plagiarism mostly happens in schools when students have an assignment, but can happen anywhere, like someone can say they made an animated YouTube video and not credit the creator. Copyright infringement is illegal and penalties can apply when committed. When an individual or corporations copyright is infringed, they (or agents nominated to act on behalf of the individual) can choose to: *Do nothing (a copyright holder may tolerate it) *Monetize it (if they have Content ID or something similar, not limited to YouTube) *Block it (if they have Content ID or something similar, not limited to YouTube) *Submit a Takedown Notice *Take legal action (mostly in an attempt to get money) Just because a copyright holder (individual or corporation) may be tolerant of derivative works doesn't mean all copyright holders may be. Penalties for copyright infringement, depending on how serious it is, massive fines may apply, and a possible term of imprisonment of up to five years. A possible term of imprisonment for 10 years may apply after additional offences. Fair Use All countries have some version of Fair Use. Fair Use is a doctrine that allows copyrighted material to be reused without the copyright holder’s permission under certain circumstances. The United States has the fairest version of Fair Use. Other countries have a similar idea called Fair Dealing which may work a little (or a lot) differently. If a work falls under your countries applicable law, it is not copyright infringement. Courts determine whether a creative work is Fair Use or not. The 4 factors of U.S. Fair Use: *the purpose and character of your use. *the nature of the copyrighted work. *the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and. *the effect of the use upon the potential market. Other countries have more limited jurisdictions, so what may be legal in one country may be illegal in another. Fair Use is mostly for research and study, review or criticism, quotation, parody or satire and reporting the news, but U.S. law can range up to a LOT more. Why Fan Fiction can be legal under U.S. Law Myths about Copyright 1. As long as you’re not making money off something, it’s ok to use Just because you’re not making money off a video or anything doesn’t mean you have the right to use it. If it affects the copyright holder’s ability to profit of their work, or it’s just a copy of the original it is most likely not legal. A copyright holder can permit the public to use their work as long as they’re not making money off it, for example Valve, who let YouTubers use the Team Fortress 2 characters in SFM videos as long as they don’t charge people to view their videos. However, that is the copyright owner PERMITTING people to use the work, if you use work from another company that doesn’t give permission, not making money off it is not enough, you must follow your country’s law. Crediting the copyright owner or including a disclaimer on your work also does not give you the right to use copyrighted work. 2. Other creators do it, so you can too You may see other creators on YouTube or any other site using third party intellectual property, copyrights especially, and having their work stay up. You do you. Other creators may have had permission from the copyright owner to use their work but may not have stated it, or they may be breaking the law but just having been caught yet, or their use of the work may be legal under their country’s jurisdiction but not yours. It is best to do your own research or consult a lawyer rather than trusting random people (like ME!). 3. Your work is Fair Use if you say it is Courts determine whether derivative works (and other works that use original third party IP without permission) are Fair Use or not. You cannot, nor can YouTube, or any other companies. 4. If Copyright owners don’t protect their work, they’ll lose the right to keeping it solely to themselves This myth is completely false. You have to protect TRADEMARKS and other IP or you’ll lose them, not copyrights. A creator of a work automatically owns the work once they created it (if it’s fully original) and they can do whatever they want with it until the copyright expires. A copyright holder can create a work for the public domain, then they can change their mind and keep it to themselves. A copyright owner can tolerate fan fiction or piracy for a few years, then change their mind and sue them all years later! This is what copyright law allows owners to do. Does it make sense that just because an author doesn’t protect their work, it will fall into the public domain? Absolutely not. You have to protect Trademarks however. A Trademark is a graphic, word, logo, slogan, phrase or design that identified a brand and products. However, just because a copyright owner won’t lose the rights to their work if someone else uses it doesn’t mean it’s ok to infringe copyright. Penalties can apply. Here's another useful link